Project Maverick

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Project Maverick

Project Maverick is a collaborative effort between, MSU, Maverick Software Consulting (MSC), and Thomson Reuters Corporation. Students work on real world software development and software testing projects. Project specifications originate from Thomson Reuters's IS staff and a variety of platforms are used to complete them under the guidance of MSC's Vice President of Software Testing. Work schedules are flexible, and school is still the students' highest priority. Project Maverick may be used to satisfy a student's internship requirement.

Click here for the Project Maverick poster in PDF format.

For more information about Project Maverick, contact Dr. Michael Wells, Project Maverick Director.

PROJECT MAVERICK WILL BE HIRING AGAIN IN FALL SEMESTER

Project Maverick will be looking to fill 2 positions at that time!!!

The winner of the Nintendo Wii donated by Thomson Reuters for Spring 2009 is... Jacob Severson!!!

  Position Information:
Hours:         20/week during school; 40/week during breaks
Pay:            $12/hour
Start date:   TBD
Eligibility:     iSYS, IT, CS, CIS, CE, MIS, or related major with at least one year until graduation

Fall semester 2009 Nintendo Wii Giveaway: The lucky winner of the Wii donated by Thomson Reuters was Ashmit Tuladhar. Thomson Reuters also donated a coffee cup (Derek Deckert), t-shirt (Aaron Grimmer), and insulated lunch bag (Bikram Duwal).

Here are the Prescreen Questions you will be asked to answer before receiving an interview for a Project Maverick position:

Are you a graduate student?

What is your expected graduation date?

Can you work 20 hours per week during school?

Can you commit to working 15 of those hours between 7 am and 6 pm Monday through Friday?

Can you work 40 hours per week during summer break?

Have you taken IT214, iSYS215, CS111, or an equivalent?

Describe in detail any development work you’ve done outside of class:

Describe any database related work you’ve completed:

Why are you interested in an IT career?

Are you interested in Testing, Development, or Both?

Please rate yourself on the following languages on a scale of 0 to 5 (0=No exposure, 5=expert): ASP, C++, C#, HTML, Java, .NET, PHP, SQL, and VB.

When would you be available to start?

How did you hear about Maverick Software Consulting?

History of Project Maverick
The following is a timeline of events that has gotten Project Maverick where it is today.

August 15, 2006- MSU signs a 5 year contract with Maverick Software Consulting (MSC) who commit $1,217,368 to start Project Maverick.
August 2006- MSC signs Thomson Corporation of Eagan, MN as their exclusive client. Thomson plans to use Project Maverick as an alternative to offshore outsourcing.
August-October 2006- acquired 1,000 square feet of office space in University Square. Space was configured with bathroom, server room, conference room, and work stations on tables.
October 2006- Project Maverick hired the first 10 interns. The initial work tasks included mostly software testing from Thomson Corporation.
January 2007- Project Maverick is expanded to 16 interns.
January 2007- MSC expands Project Maverick to include interns at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
May 2007- Project Maverick is expanded to 20 interns, the maximum allowed in the current office space. The work tasks include a nice mix of software development and software testing tasks.
May 2007- First Project Maverick intern received full-time employment. Was hired by MSC's client Thomson Corporation.
May 2007- Thomson Corporation acquires Reuters and becomes Thomson Reuters.
August 2007- Project Maverick is the recipient of MSU's Excellence Award in External Funding Incentives awarded by MSU's Research and Sponsored Programs for generating the most indirect cost recovery of any contract or grant at MSU for fiscal year 2007.
August 15, 2007- Project Maverick students present their ongoing projects to Thomson Reuters's staff including key upper-level management personnel.
May 2008- used cubicles from MSU's library to reconfigure the interns work space.
August 2008- MSC expands Project Maverick to include students from Iowa State University.
August 13, 2008- Project Maverick students present their ongoing projects to Thomson Reuters's staff including key upper-level management personnel.
September 2008- promotional video was created.
September 20, 2008- Thomson Reuters donates a Nintendo Wii to be given out to a student applicant at the inaugural Information Session.
November 2008- two research articles are published addressing Project Maverick and Thomson Reuters's use of offshore and onshore outsourcing resources.

Wells, M.G. & Olson, J.R. (2008). Project Maverick Internships: A University's Onshore Alternative to Offshore Outsourcing. Proceedings of the National Decision Sciences Institute, USA, 811-816.

Wells, M.G. & Olson, J.R. (2008). A Decision Framework for Outsourcing Tasks to Offshore Vendors. Proceedings of the National Decision Sciences Institute, USA, 801-806.
December 2008- Project Maverick wins Thomson Reuters' corporate level, Award of Excellence in the "People Make the Difference" category.
June 2009- Project Maverick acquires an additional 1000 square feet in University Square to double its office space.
August 15, 2009- MSU and Maverick Software Consulting enter into a new 5 year contract. MSC commits $3,080,969 million dollars to Project Maverick!!

Become a part of this history, submit a resume!!

Here are a few links to articles related to Project Maverick

MSU Frontier's Article (Fall 2007)

MSU Reporter Article (Oct. 2007)

Strategic Partnerships Article (May 2009)

Here are links to MSU's partners in Project Maverick

Maverick Software Consulting

Thomson-Reuters

MSU's Strategic Partners List